ANBOC 2026

What happens to musicians as a result of being in an ensemble that we conduct?

Professor Benjamin Northey draws on his experience across professional orchestras, conductor training and music education to explore how conductors can create the conditions for musicians to thrive. Moving beyond notes, technique and performance outcomes, the session considers how rehearsal culture, creativity, communication and leadership can develop confident, curious and independent musicians.

Benjamin will also explore the conductor’s own development - including self-leadership, wellbeing, presence and the energy we bring into the room - and share perspectives from his over twenty-five year professional orchestral practice that can translate meaningfully into educational settings.

Ultimately, this session asks how conducting can become not simply the leadership of music, but an opportunity to develop the people making it, and even ourselves.

Composing for young musicians doesn’t mean a composer composes a complex piece and then edits out a certain number of notes to make the music easier for those young musicians to play. Composing for young musicians entails a mindset that strives at every opportunity to write music for those young musicians – music that engages, challenges and satisfies both player and conductor and brings delight to the audience.

Zoltan Kodaly stated that, “Let us take our children seriously! Everything else follows from this...only the best is good enough for a child”. It’s reasonable then to assume that Kodaly argued that we should lead children to good music via good music; anything less is a betrayal of the young hearts and minds in our care.

How, then, does a composer go about doing that and how do those entrusted with selection of such repertoire for publication go about choosing “…only the best…for a child”? In this workshop session two of the industry’s most experienced and skilled exponents of such decision-making processes will discuss both their compositional and editorial imperatives. Moderating the session is professional with decades of experience selecting repertoire for festival collections and competition lists.

“Real art”, asserts Kodaly, “is one of the most powerful forces in the rise of mankind, and he who renders it accessible to as many people as possible is a benefactor of humanity”. Come and see how these two industry leaders strive to do just that for the young musicians in bands and orchestras world-wide.

Join Professor Benjamin Northey and Dr Mark Laycock, along with 8 delegates for a conducting workshop. Each delegate will have prepared repertoire selected by Sydney Youth Orchestra and will be mentored by our clinicians.

Join Dr Cynthia Johnston Turner and Stephen Williams, along with 8 delegates for a conducting workshop. Each delegate will have prepared repertoire selected by the RA Navy Band and will be mentored by our clinicians.

Dr Jim Coyle, author of The First Notes and The First Year: How to Write Music for Children to Perform (Routledge – available from 13^th October 2026), present a seminar for composers, arrangers and band directors on how to get the best from beginner musicians in concert bands by writing well for them.
 
Jim is an advocate of the ‘first notes first’ approach rather that the ‘B flat first approach’  adopted by many popular elementary band methods. He will explain the reasons for his position. He will also explain the value of poly-technicality. This idea, which encourages composers and arrangers to include parts of differing levels of technical difficulty in the same piece, seems counter-intuitive to many at first. However, it has very valuable practical applications in places with low student numbers in band programs (such as Australia).
 
Jim Coyle is a composer, conductor and teacher, and is a Lecturer in Music Education at Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Join Professor Benjamin Northey and Dr Mark Laycock, along with 8 delegates for a conducting workshop. Each delegate will have prepared repertoire selected by Sydney Youth Orchestra and will be mentored by our clinicians.

Join Dr Cynthia Johnston Turner and Stephen Williams, along with 8 delegates for a conducting workshop. Each delegate will have prepared repertoire selected by the RA Navy Band and will be mentored by our clinicians.

Join Dr Elizabeth Scott, Dr Anita Collins, Professor Benjamin Northey and Stephen Williams as they look at where we've come from, and where we are going in the world of music education. What is "The Next Movement" in Music for our country and how do we get there. 

The panel will be facilitated by Andrew McWade